We have now lived in Fort Garland for five months. It's been interesting to see how spring arrives here in the 'High Desert:' greener trees and sage, and grass growing along the roadsides. Real green!! What a lovely color, after winter shuffling through tan, gray and white, over and over.
This week, we brought back the last of our things fromthe Sedalia ranch we've called home for several years. When we pulled in, five deer greeted us with shocked expressions: "Where did you come from??" And we soon learned that hauling heavy boxes down the ladder from the garage loft was not exactly easy. (The Brick shimmied down three steps, trying desperately not to drop the box as I tried to grab it and ease it down. Do that a few times, and you'll feel it in back and shoulders.)
We also cleaned out our share of food from our friends' freezer, and packed it in tubs. One of the tubs was put upside-down on top of a bag of quilts, to keep it secure. On the way home, just south of Pueblo, we hit a HUGE bump...and discovered, once we got home, that one of the tubs fell off. Weirdly, nearly all the frozen food stayed in the truck. Much of it stuck to the lid -- and the rest was scattered in the truck bed. All the road crew got was a few assorted bags of veggies, the empty bin -- and a frozen pizza!
I wrote this post for another website years ago...but it's worth visiting again. And yes, Paladin and we are still buddies.
We've been in good company lately, riding the Western backcountry with Paladin. (Hanging out in luxury San Francisco hotels, too.) In case you're not familiar with this knight errant, Paladin was a gun-for-hire in the American television show, Have Gun Will Travel. Richard Boone starred in this long-running series (1957-63) on CBS. His trademark was a knight embossed on his holster ("the most dangerous piece on the chessboard," Paladin says), and a business card prominently featured in each episode. Paladin quotes Shakespeare and the classics, appreciates fine food and wine (when he's not out in the boonies living on beans and coffee, that is), and shoots straight -- no matter what.
After multiple episodes of Have Gun Will Travel, I realized some of Paladin's lessons were good for life, too: *An expert is worth his hire. "I can get three guns for your price," one of Paladin's clients announces. "Quality is not quantity," Paladin retorts. This hired gun charges a hefty fee for his services - $1000 or more, and that in the 1870s! If you're good at what you do, charging more makes sense. Our oldest daughter, in college and paying her way via dogsitting, learned this when she was featured on her sponsor site, Rover.com. Suddenly her services were even more in demand, and at a higher price. When I began teaching and lecturing (my other jobs, besides writing and appraising), a teacher friend urged, "Double your fee." I was afraid groups couldn't afford my services, but the truth was a surprise -- I was busier than ever. My higher price confirmed to them, at least, that I was worth it. *Give your word -- and keep it. Paladin expects loyalty, both from his friends and himself. In spite of obstructions -- 'bad guys,' stormy weather or whiny females -- Paladin finishes the job, and does it well. He may grab a smooch or shoot the local tough in the process, but that just makes the plot more fun.
*Work hard, play hard. Does the latest job demand travel for days in the heat and dust, a teeth-rattling ride in a stagecoach, arguing with a hostile crowd, or a showdown on main street? Whatever it is, Paladin accomplishes it, an nobly. Between gigs, he retreats to his suite at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco for hot baths, fine wine and tickets to the opera. (Okay, a lot of flirting with pretty girls, too.) A thousand bucks, after all, covers a lot of playtime at post-Civil War prices.
*A good education comes in handy. Paladin is well-read, from Cicero to Keats. (Another lesson: education is lifelong, not just classes.) He speaks more than one language, and understands several different cultures. He needs it: he has to get along with everyone from English aristocrats to Apache warriors. Which brings us to another lesson --
*The great ones are versatile. Not only is Paladin equally capable of fighting with a variety of weapons, riding a horse up a steep canyon, and analyzing great whiskies -- so are the actors and actresses in Have Gun Will Travel episodes. A number are famous now, including Charles Bronson, June Lockhart, James Coburn and Martin Balsam. Even more interesting: the really good ones appear more than once, as different characters. (Did they honestly think we wouldn't notice?) It isn't just the actors; a number of the episodes were authored by people who went on to fame elsewhere. Those names include Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek), Bruce Geller (Mission Impossible) and Harry Julian Fink (Big Jake, Ice Station Zebra...and the Dirty Harry movies).
Good lessons, all. And if you like cowboy Westerns, the research is so much fun!
As I mentioned before, our truck literally popped a wheelie (i.e., a wheel flew off -- all bolts sheared off) while our kids were doing 70 mph on the highway, pulling the fifth-wheel. Thank God Adopted Son was able to pull safely onto the shoulder, with no one hurt, and the truck and fifth-wheel surprisingly unharmed. (Well, except for no wheel or tire, burned out brake pads, messed-up axle, scraped up side, etc etc.) Fortunately, one of our Blanca friends had a truck with hitch that we could borrow. So the Brick picked up the kids in Walsenburg, then drove down south of Raton (about a 2-hour drive each way) to bring the trailer back.
They had to wait for a wrecker, who then towed the truck to a dealer in Trinidad, where it sits -- and waits. The dealer said it would take a week to get most parts, and two weeks to get a replacement wheel. (The kids searched all over, but never found the wheel. Perhaps it decided to roll home on its own.) Brick and Co. finally got home about 1:00 a.m.
There are several problems with this:
*The truck is our only vehicle.
*I have an appraisal to do Tuesday in Castle Rock, 3 hours away...and a package to ship.
*How in the world are we going to get around, meanwhile?
The answer: a truck generously provided by a friend. We're renting it from him.
How much is this going to cost? We have no idea. Hundreds of dollars already flew out the door with tows, gas, etc. Not to mention wasted time and energy.
Yes, we have a claim filed with the tire company (which put on NEW tires only last week). The kids could have been killed. (Honestly, they should have rolled -- only the grace of God and Adopted Son's driving skills were in play.) The truck and fifth-wheel can be replaced -- our children cannot.
We have a heart for this subject, having seen elderly friends very concerned about this same subject, when we were living in McNeal, AZ, near the Mexican border. They not only would have illegals crossing their land -- but had people banging on their door in early morning, asking for food and water. And these were elderly widows, Gentle Readers. How terrified do you think they were?
Otzi the Iceman had 61 tattoos -- but they weren't done the way scientists originally thought. (Nor did he die naturally -- not with an arrowhead in his shoulder, a head wound and a defensive wound on his hand...)
In his time, he was a fine football player -- and that is about all I can say.
I was working at Quilter's Newsletter Magazine during Simpson's 1995 murder trial. If you were around in those days, you had to be living under a rock not to know that Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. And there was a LOT of evidence pointing to that conclusion.
(What I didn't know: Kris Jenner was best friends with Nicole -- and her ex-husband, Robert Kardashian, was on OJ's defense team. Weird. What I also didn't know: Simpson went off his arthritis medicine a few weeks before the trial -- so when he 'struggled' to put on the indicting gloves, his hands were actually more swollen than normal. Yep, I'm sure that was just a 'coincidence.')
When his acquittal was announced, total silence in the lunchroom... and practically everyone on staff was there to watch. I remember this vividly.
